Pages

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Figuring Out My Place In Time And Space: #100cupsofcoffee

First and foremost I'm a Nerdy Girlie, so of course this journey towards one hundred cups of coffee wouldn't have began if not for one of my favorite fandom of all time, the television show Futurama. In season five, episode eleven, One Hundred Big Boys, the main character Philip J Fry, along with the rest of the cast, receives a tax refund of $300. Fry decides immediately that with his refund he is going to purchase and drink one hundred cups of coffee and he does so in a twenty four hour period.

This is one of my favorite episodes I have seen the million times but upon re-watching it one night again for the um-teenth time, I decided the next morning when I went take a sip of my morning coffee, that that cup would be my number one. Without knowing it, I began a journey of self discovery that I never knew I’d been waiting my entire life for.

Since that first cup I have attended my seventh San Diego Comic Con where I sat on my very first panel, I have fallen madly in love with the city I live in, LA and most importantly, I've finally fell in love with myself. It's taken me almost three months to drink one hundred cups of coffee and in that time I grew more than I ever have in my entire life.

Most of these cups were drunk alone, some of them were shared with my favorite people and the last one which pays homage to the Futurama episode that started it all, also pays homage to someone I never knew I always looked up to, who I can't believe I had a chance to have in my life and who showed me how to “be the love” everyday and enjoy and cherish the moments spent with family, friends and alone. Everyday I try and be the person that my Aunt Sheryl always believed that I was and am.

I never thought that I would go through a divorce. I certainly didn’t go into my marriage with that intention in mind, no one does. But here I stand fourteen years later. I’ve finally learned to follow my heart. Do what is best for myself. To learn who I really am and to become the person I was always meant to be. During these three months of drinking coffee, there were HIGHS and there were LOWS. Everyday I pushed through, everyday I learned a new lesson and everyday I discovered that I am the strong person I’ve always wanted to be but never thought I was.

This journey started off about a fandom. Through one hundred cups it evolved. I swam through a lonely darkness, I pushed through the heat. I cried a lot of tears into those cups. I found myself repeating past mistakes. But I am happy to stand here at the final cup with all the time I’ve taken for myself in each sip. I’ve learned to recognize the pattern in myself and to stop it in its tracks. The past was lessons, not mistakes. I now know want out of life and have grown to express what I don’t. I never wanted to be alone, I tried my hardest not to be. Then I stopped trying and when I finally made that discussion for myself is when I didn’t feel alone anymore.

So I've deiced to go back and write about each cup. I want to start sharing those stories with you here. I might not go in order, I might not do everyone cup, but I want to share with you the journey I've been on and hopefully inspire yours.

Thanks Meghan! It took a while! I knew when I started my coffee journey that I didn't want any added sugar...so that was cut out quickly....slowly cream was as well. It's just easier black! And you can taste the coffee! :) xx

I always love how intimate these types of projects can become, but I always have a hard time sticking with the 365 days that usually go with these. I'd love to do something like this - though, I hate coffee...I'm going to join you - #100CupsofTea!

I've been following your 100 cups of coffee over on instagram, but it wasn't until the 99th cup of coffee that I realized that somewhere along the way this project turned in to a process of self-discovery (I'm really bad at actually reading stuff on instagram. Everybody's pretty pictures are distracting). Anyway, I found myself really moved by the candidness of the 99th post, so I'm really excited to hear more stories about the cups of coffee you enjoyed throughout the three months. Thank you for letting us be apart of this!

This is such a beautiful post Megan! I love how something as simple as snapping a pic of each cup turned into such a beautiful project. This line you said, "I’ve learned to recognize the pattern in myself and to stop it in its tracks." - YES. Many years ago I went through a period of depression, and that general feeling of being lost in life. I saw this quote written on a white board at a friends house - 'If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.' Cheesy as it sounds, it resonated with me. Learning from you past, and learning about yourself is so, so important. I'm glad your journey has been so amazing, and I think it's wonderful that you share it!

The ripples in the pond made by the pebble you dropped in by first starting your blog continue to radiate. Even though I'm not even close to "girly", I love reading your blog because I never know when I can gain some valuable info...such as awesome places to have a simple cup of coffee! (BTW- If and when I ever take a trip north to L.A., one of my first stops will be Republic of Pie...jus' sayin')